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L'Argent

Play trailer Poster for L'Argent 1983 1h 24m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
While collecting payment from a Paris photography shop, hard-working fuel delivery man Yvon Targe (Christian Patey) is purposefully given counterfeit money without his knowledge. When Yvon innocently uses the bills to pay for his lunch later that day at a local café, he narrowly avoids arrest but loses his job. To support his family, Yvon takes a new job with a criminal element, but his life continues nevertheless to spiral downward into the depths of violence and despair.
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L'Argent

L'Argent

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Critics Consensus

Economically told and sweeping in scope, Robert Bresson's swan song is a haunting indictment of money's destructive power.

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Critics Reviews

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Paul Attanasio Washington Post 01/04/2018
Its pleasures are the classic pleasures of the art film -- niceties of technique, juxtapositions of image and sound, a judiciousness in choosing what is shown, and what isn't. Go to Full Review
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 03/05/2013
Bresson, working his sound track as assiduously as his visuals, once again makes us realize how little use most films make of the resources of the cinema. A masterpiece. Go to Full Review
Michael Atkinson Village Voice 03/05/2013
A harrowing scour of ideological cinema. Go to Full Review
Farah Cheded A Good Movie To Watch 09/29/2023
The gradual brutalization of this once-honest man plays out like a grim certainty, but what *is* surprising is L’Argent’s final suggestion that redemption, even after so much ugliness, is possible. What a note to end a career on. Go to Full Review
Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia 08/03/2022
L’argent is a thrillingly precise drama which scrutinises the consequences of one rash action. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 02/12/2022
4/4
With L'Argent, Bresson considers how money is not just an economic unit that passes from one person to the next; it's a force that drives our desires and has chilling consequences every time it changes hands. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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jacob c Jun 5 In his final film, Bresson uses his signature sparse narrative and cinematic techniques to examine the effects of money and the desperate lengths people will go to obtain it. The result is poignant and ever-relevent. See more Will G Mar 2 A great French film. It was about two teenagers that use counterfeit money at a camera shop. One of them gets arrested and goes to jail. The ending was surprising. Great cinematography and acting. See more Leaburn O Feb 14 Bresson’s final act as a Director was this short parable about money and I suppose the butterfly effect or unintended consequences. It is a strangely alienating film that pulls us into the characters, despite some mediocre acting and then spits out a bunch of unanswerable questions. It’s worth seeing but didn’t grip me. Watched on Blu-ray. See more Kate F Jan 13 I made an account solely to critique this film and attempt to even out the outrageous high score. You will only like this film if you are a pretentious sophomoric snob. The score is high only because this is the only type of people to watch this film. I was falling asleep for most of the film. And I say film bc a movie is made to entertain and this did not. There are shots and shots of nothing happening. The actors had no emotion- delivering every line in the most deadpan way. People analyze it as being a deep look at how money corrupts but the character is simply evil. I know it’s supposed to explore film without overt emotion and the classic artistic devices but it didn’t replace them with anything; it was both morally and aesthetically empty. I was not impressed by the so called classic cinematography which reminded me of the poor quality movies I made as a kid with friends. Tolstoy originally wrote this with a part 2 in which one small act of good snowballs into having a larger and larger positive effect. Which is a much more powerful artistic message. Do not watch. See more Dave S 05/27/2023 L'Argent was the perfect swan song for the great French auteur Robert Bresson – a sparse but powerful film rich in themes and consistent in style with the rest of his impressive oeuvre. Set in Paris, the passing of a counterfeit banknote leads to an unimaginably tragic and ultimately violent chain of events. It's really that simple. As always, Bresson pares things down to only the necessary. The dialogue is minimal, the film is unadorned by a music score, and there isn't a scene or a shot that is unnecessary. L'Argent is a reminder of how movies should be made and what cinematic art looks like in the hands of a master. See more 10/17/2021 Based on the works of Leo Tolstoy... and it's French. I can watch and enjoy some foreign language films but I did not find much of anything to like about this one. See more Read all reviews
L'Argent

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Movie Info

Synopsis While collecting payment from a Paris photography shop, hard-working fuel delivery man Yvon Targe (Christian Patey) is purposefully given counterfeit money without his knowledge. When Yvon innocently uses the bills to pay for his lunch later that day at a local café, he narrowly avoids arrest but loses his job. To support his family, Yvon takes a new job with a criminal element, but his life continues nevertheless to spiral downward into the depths of violence and despair.
Director
Robert Bresson
Creator
Leo Tolstoy
Producer
Daniel Toscan du Plantier, Jean-Marc Henchoz, Antoine Gannagé
Screenwriter
Robert Bresson
Production Co
Eôs Films, France 3 Cinéma, Marion's Films
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 11, 2017
Runtime
1h 24m
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